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Kyrios City
'Kyrios '''was the ancient capital of the Accipitrian Empire and the ancestral seat of House Katriontra. The city is situated atop the Kyrine Basin, roughly 60 kilometers west of Interria. Kyrios had been a readily growing steadfast, whose income relied heavily on grain caravans with the more prosperous eastern kingdoms. In 292, a large exodus of Katyrs settled in the basin, with Kyrios becoming their center of commerce. In 293, House Katriontra, the newly founded off-shoot of the larger House Invar claimed Kyrios as its seat of power by its founder Kyraxes Katriontra. The city grew exponentially during the Accipitrian Wars and became the seat of the Accipitrian Empire following the signing of the Treaty of Kyrios. Following Invaron Katriontra's ascension to Lord of Kyrios, the city became the de-facto capital of Kyran as the rival cities of Interria, Adana, Degaurd and Ristendorff fell to the might of the Empire's elite Black Legion forces. The city continued to thrive even with Invaron's departure to start the War of the Gods. It was only after his defeat that doom came for the city and its inhabitants in the form of the Hundred Year Winter. Its populace fled for the relative safety of the eastern cities that had not been tainted by the flux storms. Since then, the site of the city had generally been avoided, many believing it was home to demons and creatures of the Anathema. The site was discovered in 3412 A.A.W by an Irukanji-led expedition, and later re-discovered in 4436 A.A.W by the Capitol Dominion. The ruins of the city today are still highly preserved, although worn down. A ten kilometer exclusion zone surrounds the site of the cursed city, as the magicers and scientists of the Institute for Capitol Sciences and the Inquisition study the lingering effects of the magical storms that ravished the city. History Foundation and Growth Kyrios City was founded by Kyraxes Katriontra in 293 alongside the formation of House Katriontra. From its inception through to the War of the Gods, Kyrios became the largest city in the Winterlands with an estimated population of 686,000 people. Recovered ancient scrolls and texts have given an insight to life in the city, which spoke of the authoritarian rule of the Accipitrian Empire. It was governed by the Dragon Vizier, In 1602 the last Dragon King Invaron left Kyrios City with the bulk of the Accipitrian army to Conqueror's Bay where he set sail to the Summerlands to initiate the War of the Gods. Accipitrian Civil War and Demise The city continued to grow, suffering from only two minor outbreaks of the Bloody Rush until the death of Invaron at the Battle of the Black Sands in 1704 A.A.W. With the Dragon King dead, his oldest daughter Invaria claimed his throne, however her claim was countered by Sylvaron, Invaron's younger brother who claimed the throne for himself. The resulting standoff led to the Accipitrian Civil War. Invaria, who was sixteen at the time, took refuge in the Fortress of Kyrios using the Royal Guard as her main army, while Sylvaron was a proven battle commander who possessed a host of soldiers he had originally assembled in order to save the losing war in the East. Shortly before the beginning of the Hundred Year Winter, Sylvaron's army attacked Kyrios City, which was held by Invaria's loyalist forces. The battle reduced much of the outskirts of the city into rubble, but the loyalists were ultimately victorious in defending the city. Sylvaron's forces routed to an encampment south-east of the city. His forces were caught directly in the open when the Celeran Tower was activated north, setting the Hundred Year Winter upon the Winterlands. According to the accounts of Kyriosian historian Perdenon the Quartz, the city's population slowly died out during the course of the Winter, with many fleeing the city in search for food, warmth and shelter. Most of those who left the city never returned. Although no traces of her were found, it is assumed that Invaria Katriontra died in the Fortress of Kyrios, a few decades after the Winter began. Official accounts about the city during the last decades of the Winter were never found, most likely because the scribes and book keepers died or left the city and as such the period remains a mystery. It is commonly accepted that the city was abandoned by the time the Winter had lifted, although archaelogical evidence has proven that parts of the city were settled long after the winter ended, most likely by tribes. Discovery by the Hinkanji Expedition After the formation of the United Mushroom Union in 3306 A.A.W and the purges that occured during the Chaos Crusades, the Mushroom cartographer Julorak Hinkanji successfully convinced the General Mushroom Assembly to fund an expedition to the southern Winterlands in order to locate and visit the city. Julorak Hinkanji, along with a team of historians, researchers, archaeologists and geographers were accompanied by the Third Mushroom Naval Expeditionary Force. They set sail from the Mushroom Island on July 3 3411 A.A.W. They arrived in Conqueror's Bay on July 12. The expedition began with several naval aircraft flying low-level search missions over the areas Hinkanji believed housed the location of the city. A thick cloud of fog had descended over the search sites, reducing vision and covering important geographical landmarks such as roads and villages which would have helped the pilots find the city faster. Finally, after two weeks of searching, the aircraft spotted the Fortress of Kyrios just above the fogcloud. With the site's location discovered, Hinkanji and the Expeditionary Force set out on foot from Conqueror's Bay inland. The journey was expected to take two months to reach the city, however the discovery of a Accipitrian-built road network led them directly to the city. The journey gave the scientific team more insight to the terrain and wildlife of the southern Winterlands, which was radically different to that in the North. The team arrived at the city's outskirts without trouble after two weeks of travel. Hinkanji writes in his travel journal: ''"The city was far less grand than I had desired it to be. Out of the endless field of white rose the blackish grey ruins. The stone was cold to the touch, and looked like it had been burned for millenia. Beneath the snow lay thousands of years of ancient history." The expedition remained at the site for two weeks, cataloguing hundreds of artifacts ranging from pots and plates to swords and arrowheads. Among the relics recovered were preserved suits of armour belonging to former Loyalist soldiers who perished during the Winter. Despite Hinkanji's protests, the expeditionary team refused to enter the Fortress, believing it to be cursed with dark magic. A few days before their due departure date, Hinkanji successfully managed to convince a small security detail to accompany him to the front gate of the Fortress. However when they arrived, several of the security officers claimed they could sense the presence of Flux, a byproduct of magic that often had negative effects on the surrounding environment. The detail forced him to return back to the basecamp and the castle was not entered. Rediscovery by the Capitol Dominion